The Celtics have traded away more than their fair share of players over the last season, but the players who have remained have a tight bond.

That bond will turn into a bit of a long-distance relationship now, with the news that Courtney Lee will be traded to the Memphis Grizzlies for Jerryd Bayless.

The deal was reported shortly before the Celtics tipped off against the Thunder in Oklahoma City. Lee did not suit up for the team, and although the deal has not been officially announced, it's happening. The players and coaches know about it, and Lee himself has already taken to social media to thank the organization and its fans.

Jeff Green and Avery Bradley are two of Lee's closest friends on the team. They spoke after the game about the trade.

"We talked," Green said of Lee. "It's a business. Things happen. My job is to go out there and play basketball. He's still a good friend of mine and always will be. So I wish the best for him and we just have to continue to focus on what we need to accomplish this year."

The Celtics played the first game of a five-game road trip out west, a trip that those players spoke about bonding even further on a couple days ago. It won't happen for Lee anyways. But Bradley knows the two will still remain close.

"We just all wished the best for each other," Bradley said. "We're still going to be a family. We just want to see one another do well. He said that to everybody in here and we all said the same to him. Wherever he goes we just wish him the best. We know he'll do well."

Trades happen all the time in the NBA, but Bradley says having seen teammates traded away in the past doesn't make it any easier to watch them traded away now.

"No, it never is," Bradley said. "But it's part of the business. All you can do is focus on the next game; can't worry about it."

The Celtics will undoubtedly say their goodbyes to Lee before he joins his new team, but they have to quickly start to focus on the next team on their schedule, the Denver Nuggets.